Traditionally, technicians, engineers, surveyors, maintenance, and emergency personnel and the like employed in industrial, commercial or institutional settings are required to perform field work outside a typical office environment. Field work may be indoors or outdoors, upon a factory floor or mezzanine, aboard a seagoing vessel, aircraft or land vehicle. Field work generally involves equipment and or facilities construction, start-up, commissioning, field trials, maintenance, calibration, certification etc. Such field work can range from a few minutes duration to days or even years dependant on the project work scope. Many field work sites do not have permanent workstations, tables, desks, chairs, and or hand trucks hereafter known as workstations. Generally it is not practical to locate permanent workstations that will be used infrequently as the workstations occupy expensive real estate and typically collect useless items rendering the workstations unavailable when needed. Oftentimes makeshift workstations are assembled from inverted buckets, wire spools, boxes, crates, pallets, steps, machinery ledges, etc. Rarely are these makeshift workstations the correct seating or working height and as such are generally uncomfortable. Fatigue commonly occurs when using such makeshift workstations resulting in reduced productivity and workmanship. Additionally, makeshift workstations are often unstable and or incapable of adequately supporting personnel or equipment. Personnel injury and or equipment damage can and does occur due to workstation tipping and or structural failure.
Frequently, heavy toolboxes, briefcases, portable computers, instruments, etc. hereafter known as equipment, are hand carried to the field work site. Injuries such as muscle strains, back pain, etc. are commonly related to lifting or hand carrying equipment.
Hand trucks provide an injury reducing means to transport equipment to work sites, but do not provide a seat or work surface.
Overall, makeshift workstations are generally inadequate in the following respects:
1. Seating position (horizontal and vertical) relative to work surface
2. Seating comfort (non ergonomic design)
3. Work surface position (horizontal and vertical) relative to seating
4. Work surface horizontal tilt relative to seating
5. Stability (seating and work surface)
6. Load capacity (personnel and instruments)
7. Provide no means to transport equipment